A postgame review of the key Dolphins players to watch vs. Ravens

Earlier this week, I mentioned five key players to watch on both offense and defense against the Ravens.

Saturday night’s game had its fair share of mixed reviews. However, the first team looked pretty solid on both offense and defense. The Dolphins first team went into halftime with a 10- 3 lead. That lead went away quickly as the Ravens torched the Dolphins second and third string defense.

With that said, the ten players (five offense and five defense) that we mentioned, had an overall good performance.

Let’s take a look at how each of these players did:

Ryan Tannehill: As most starters, Ryan Tannehill had his chance for an extended look with the offense. He fumbled the ball twice on the first play on two different drives. One was him just dropping the wet ball, and the other was him and center Daniel Kilgore fumbling on the exchange. After that, Tannehill settled in and lead the team downfield for a touchdown drive. He connected with multiple targets on the drive, including Kenny Stills, Mike Gesicki, Kenyan Drake, and a touchdown pass to Danny Amendola.

Robert Quinn: There were a lot of questions after the Dolphins traded for Quinn during the offseason, especially since many thought he was a shell of his former self. Quinn showed how his explosive ability to bend the corner to record his third sack of the preseason. It would have been his fourth, however, one sack was negated by a penalty from Davon Godchaux.

Kenny Stills: Stills finished the game with three receptions for 28 yards and two of which occurred on the first team’s first touchdown drive of the preseason. Stills looked like a savvy veteran out there, showing what we already knew about him. He showed his ability to get open and make it easy for Tannehill to find him. Stills did not have to show much, just that he was healthy from his ankle injury. It was clear by his route running that he was.

Raekwon McMillan: McMillan looked much more comfortable against the Ravens Saturday night, than he did last week against the Panthers. He handled the run game well and closed in on ball carriers in a hurry. The one issue he had, was inconsistent tackling. That is something he will have to work on, but his ability to tackle is there, it is just a matter of putting everything together. Overall, McMillan and the entire linebacking group looked pretty solid.

Kenyan Drake: Drake continued to show his playmaking ability by rushing for a 30 yard gain in the first half on the touchdown drive, and catching a 36 yard pass from Tannehill in the first half. Drake’s big plays helped lead to two scoring drives and which lead to ten points. Drake is a big play waiting to happen and he has flashed his ability this preseason. Perhaps his biggest success, was finding running lanes when there appeared to be none.

Xavien Howard: No interceptions this week for Howard this week, however, blanketed the Ravens’ receivers and forced quarterback Robert Griffin III to throw away from him. Much like Drake, Howard is continuing to show that he plans to continue where he left off last season.

Laremy Tunsil and Ja’Wuan James: Overall, the bookend tackles were serviceable in pass protection. Both did struggle to recognize stunts, which lead to pressure on Tannehill on a few plays. Things did settle down for the young tackles, especially when the offense went to a hurry up offense. Tannehill started to get more time in the pocket, which can be accredited to both tackles.

Minkah Fitzpatrick: Fitzpatrick did not play like a rookie at all. He played like a veteran, blanketing the receivers out of the slot. He helped shutdown receivers and anything thrown his way. He made a few solid tackles on screen plays. He found himself all over the field making plays, which has been a much needed bright spot in the secondary outside of Xavien Howard.

Mike Gesicki: Gesicki recorded his first reception as a Dolphin when he was lined up in the slot. He ran the route like a wide receiver and used his big frame to shield the defender from the ball. It was a change to see a tight end flex out wide. There was another glimpse of what he offers when the Ravens were forced to call a time out when he split out wide in the red zone.

Charles Harris: Harris did not show much during the first quarter, but he was able to get on the field and force pressure on quarterbacks Griffin and Lamar Jackson. He did not record a sack, but he was able to get upfield and force the quarterback out of the pocket. He does need to work on not overpursuing and getting to far into the backfield. However, he did show flashes of getting after the quarterback and getting in the back field.

Overall, the 10 players mentioned performed well against the Ravens. Fitzpatrick, Quinn, Drake, Tannehill and Stills all showed quality play against the Ravens and showed why they were on our watch list before the game.

The final preseason game is scheduled for Thursday, August 30 against the Falcons.

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